Haruka ni Gamanzuyoi
by Fire and Sand
Summary: Kantarou has searched for Haruka in the strangest places since he was a kid. Now that he has grown up, there is a time to move on to more practical locations. What was going through his head when he looked under that bed?


Fire: My Tactics fanfic is finally up!

Sasuke: This is the wrong one.

Fire: – –;; Actually, Sasuke's right. I have another one in the works, so don't worry. Read this while I'm still working on that one. Just a oneshot focussing on Kantarou's search for Haruka. It's a 666 special, one of 6 oneshots posted on the 6th day of the 6th month in the year 2006, at 6:06pm. And remember to send me your reviews!

Sasuke: And be brutally honest. Fire values honesty. (slaps the oneshot onto the screen)

---------------------------

Disclaimer: Tactics doesn't belong to me. If I owned Tactics, Kantarou and Haruka would be all over each other! – –;; But then, it probably wouldn't be as interesting as it is right now.

---------------------------

**Haruka ni Gamanzuyoi**

**A Fire Project**

**Oneshot**

**K**antarou stared into the empty box and felt stupid. He didn't know what he was doing anymore. The tengu isn't going to be waiting in a box. He wouldn't be trapped in a box. Tsuru-chan and Kame-chan said that he was sealed. Boxes couldn't seal powerful tengu like Haruka in there.

He closed the wooden box slowly before pushing it against the bed again. It was Hasumi's box, and if he knew that he was looking in his things for a creature that didn't _exist_, Hasumi would tell Umata-sensei, and Umata-sensei would yell at him for sure.

But he couldn't stop himself. He had to find him. He had to find Haruka. Haruka was waiting somewhere for him to release him. Haruka was suffering alone somewhere. And more than anything, he needed Haruka.

It was inevitable. He couldn't stop himself. Umata-sensei often scolded him for his absentmindedness, but he couldn't focus when he knew Haruka could be so close. He could be in that closet!

Kantarou leapt at the closet, flung it open, and stared at the empty closet. Except for a few strange items, it was an ordinary closet, filled with ordinary things. And again, he felt stupid. It was useless. He wasn't strong enough to continue.

'_Maybe Hasumi is right.'_

Sometimes, he couldn't stop himself from thinking that way. What was there to prove that the onii-kuui tengu was real? There was nothing. Hasumi wouldn't even believe his own eyes when he saw Tsuru-chan and Kame-chan. They were standing right in front of him, and he wouldn't believe they existed.

But after a few moments, he pulled himself up again. He pushed the depressing thoughts out of his mind and looked around. He shouldn't be searching in here. Not only would Hasumi yell at him, and Umata-sensei would yell at him, it was ridiculous. Haruka wasn't here!

He looked down at the bell around his wrist. It was new, and he didn't believe that it would ring when youkai were near, but it couldn't hurt. Haruka could be hidden, and he wouldn't know it.

Kantarou waved the bracelet of three bells overhead with a chorus of rings before holding it still. Nothing. He waved it out the window, over the streets, but as soon as he stopped moving his arm, again there was nothing. _'Ring! Ring, kuso!'_ He willed the bells to ring, but the silence that ensued was almost deafening.

The silver-haired man sighed before walking to the door. He should have known that it was useless. If such things could help, he would have used it long ago.

"Kantarou?"

The silver-haired man stopped, his body freezing as the door opened to reveal shining frames. "H-Hasumi!" He was caught.

"What are you–"

"Nothing! I– I dropped a coin and it rolled under your door into your room!" He forced a smile at his classmate and ran quickly away before Hasumi could realize the lie.

He only stopped when he was too far enough away for Hasumi to catch him. The bells shook with each breath. Ring. Ring. Ring. He was an idiot for taking that chance. If Umata-sensei knew what he was doing at this college, he would have to leave. He was sneaking around like a thief!

Kantarou sighed as he slumped to the ground. His head pounded as loudly as his heart. He couldn't hear anything but the ringing of his bells. Ring. He had to be smarter. He would find Haruka eventually, but meanwhile...

Kantarou's breath quelled, his hands lying flat against the cool ground.

...meanwhile, he should be patient. Eventually, he would...

Ring.

Kantarou looked down at the bells.

Ring.

They were ringing.

Kantarou clamped a hand on the bells, muffling the ringing. Their thin sound barely made it through the thick air. And as he removed his hands slowly...

...they were ringing again.

A youkai was close.

A youkai was close!

Kantarou jumped to his feet. _'Yosh!'_ He knew it! This time, he would find Haruka. And Haruka definitely wasn't going to be in a box.

**End Oneshot**

---------------------------

Moral of the Story:

Desperation makes people do stupid things. After searching for a long time, irrationality seeps into the mind and pushes logic out. A box cannot hold something the size of a person. A fish wouldn't be in a tree. Step back and take a breath before searching again. It clears the mind and allows rational thought to take over again.

Fire's babbling:

Kantarou: – –;;

Sasuke: You're an idiot.

Kantarou: I was only a kid!

Fire: You're in college. You should know better than to search in a box.

Kantarou: – –;;

Fire: Anyway, send me your reviews! I need to know what you think! Please! Please! Please!

Sasuke: Great. Fire's broken again. (sighs and pulls Fire to the hospital)

Kantarou: I'm not paying for it! Yoko-chan will kill me!

---------------------------


End file.
